Bhubaneswar and Rourkela top smart city list in Odisha

The committee however, decided to recommend the Centre for inclusion of all five corporations under the Smart City scheme launched by the NDA government recently.

BHUBANESWAR: A panel headed by chief secretary G C Pati on Thursday ranked Bhubaneswar and Rourkela in the top two positions among the five municipal corporations for the Smart City scheme.

The committee however, decided to recommend the Centre for inclusion of all five corporations under the Smart City scheme launched by the NDA government recently. Earlier, the Centre announced to include two cities from the state under the scheme.

“On the basis of the guidelines of the scheme, the panel ranked Bhubaneswar at the top with 70 points followed by Rourkela with 61.5 points. The three other cities, including Cuttack, Berhampur and Sambalpur, scored 60 points each,” said special secretary of housing and urban development department S K Ratho after a meeting of the committee here.

The cities were ranked on the basis of existing service levels (25 points), institutional systems and capacities (15 points), self-financing (30 points) and past track record (30 points), sources said.

The selected cities from the state have to participate in a city challenge competition with 98 other cities to figure in the final list, official sources said.

On August 3, the Centre would announce list of 20 cities in the first phase under the scheme. “Bhubaneswar being a planned city stands a good chance to win the smart tag in the first phase,” Ratho said.

Under the scheme, each city would get Rs 100 crore annually for five years. The state government will also contribute an equal amount for development of the city.

A potential Smart City should have assured water and electricity supply, sanitation and solid waste management, efficient urban mobility and public transport, affordable housing, robust IT connectivity, e-governance, safety and security of citizens and health, education and economic activities.

Following declaration of the list of cities, the state government would provide consultative support to the cities to prepare Smart City proposals.

The opposition parties, however, said the announcement to cover Rourkela under the scheme is to woo the voters of the city ahead of corporation polls.

Shortly after the committee ranked the Steel City in the second position, the BJD workers started celebration by distributing sweets in the city to gain political mileage ahead of the corporation polls.